The subterranean mobility of house music has helped carve a sort of divine devotion from active fans of the genre. Instead of utilizing traditional media channels like TV & radio, house pulsates from club to club, passes by word of mouth, and travels the globe by web. This visceral brand of music with a lead foot naturally benefits from technology that is equally mobile. Owner / Producer & House Music Pioneer, Vince Lawrence of Slang MusicGroup recognized the compatibility of house & mobile technology. Thus, Slang MusicGroup introduced their own iPhone App featuring bundles of house ringtones to give the genre one more mode of transportation. As mobile phones have become a new vehicle for word of mouth, house music aficionados can now share their passion with fellow fans more quickly and more efficiently. What’s more, Slang MusicGroup’s iPhone app has cultivated quite a bit of interest among popular house DJ’s. Lawrence notes that several DJ’s have approached Slang MusicGroup wanting to add their melodic concoctions to the ringtone roster. This is particularly exciting because, not only will fans have more selection and new beats to choose from, the response from the DJ’s is of utter inspiration. With the iPhone acting as a new medium through which to create, some DJ’s are reprising and renovating their more vintage tracks, while some are using the opportunity to experiment with completely new sounds. And, to ensure users are receiving an elevated mobile experience, Slang MusicGroup applies their legacy of expertise to quality control the dickens out of each new ringtone hopeful. The Low Down on the Download: Slang MusicGroup offers up 4 complimentary ringtones when you download the House Music Ringtones application. If you’re interested in more ringtones, you can purchase blocks of beats in ‘bundles’. For $1.99, users receive 21 additional custom ringtones and the ability to purchase the next bundle thereafter. The app has already been warmly embraced by the house community with over 6,000 downloads since it launched in June. Next in line is a version of the app for the Droid in conjunction with Vincent Norman who developed a similar Droid application, musictapp. Because movement–in all forms–is at the core of house music, Slang MusicGroup’s iPhone App carries the spirit of the genre into the present day and offers users a “soundtrack to their mobile life”. Lawrence is especially inspired by their setting in Chicago: “Because Chicago is separated from the coasts, [it acts as a] great incubation spot for ideas. It presents the opportunity for true innovation without any undue influence from the coasts.” Lawrence has certainly maximized the inventive purity of Chicago to help establish a revolutionary underground music scene, bring it to the modern day, and propel it into future generations. How about that? Will you download the app? Have you used similar apps from different genre’s? Care to compare? Contrast? Do tell!
